


Snow Day

by elandhop



Series: Stay [12]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Comfort, F/F, F/M, Family Feels and Fluff, Family Fluff, special needs adoption, the moment you've been waiting for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-24 22:13:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16184225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elandhop/pseuds/elandhop
Summary: Waverly sits up, and  presses their foreheads together.“Ariel Raleigh Earp-Haught. She will really be an Earp-Haught.”“She’s going to hate us for that when she’s a teenager, you know.” Nicole nuzzles her nose into Waverly’s cheek.Or,Ariel calls Waverly and Nicole her Mama and Mommy for the first time.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> While this work is part of the Stay series, you do not need to read ALL of the other stories to enjoy this one.   
> Here is a recap:   
> 1) Waverly and Nicole are in the process of adopting five-year-old Ariel who has speech delay and uses a walker.   
> 2) Ariel calls Waverly and Nicole "CoCo" and "Wavy." But...that might change in this chapter. Dun, dun dun!  
> 3) Buttercup is the family pet. She is a Pygmy goat.   
> 4) Wynonna is totally preggers. (Ooops!)   
> 5) Waverly and Nicole are engaged. 
> 
> And that's what you missed on... Stay!

Waverly presses her lips to Nicole’s neck as she shivers under the covers. 

Nicole snores and instinctively pulls her closer, soft, red curls tickling Waverly’s cheek. 

She yawns and opens her eyes.

Waverly quickly closes  _ her _ eyes, pretending to be asleep, but also relishing Nicole’s warmth. 

She presses a palm to Nicole’s bare, defined stomach below her nightshirt, and rests her hand there.

Nicole twists a strand of Waverly’s long locks in her fingers and presses a kiss to the top of her head as she closes her eyes again.

 

It’s Friday morning and the world outside is covered in white. 

 

They’ve got nothing to do, and nowhere to be. 

 

It’s a snow day. 

 

Last night, long after Ariel had gone to sleep the school had called and deemed the impending storm vicious enough to cover the roads in white. 

 

Maybe they’d have something to  _ do _ if it wasn’t for the tiny girl that sleeps in the bedroom next door.

 

“You’re  _ not _ sleeping, Waverly. I can tell.” Nicole’s eyes remain closed as Waverly’s crack open. The sheriff’s red hair is splayed out against their pillows. Nicole cracks a smile, and Waverly bats her eyes.

 

“Guilty as charged Sheriff.” Waverly draws a line down Nicole’s cheek with her finger and presses a kiss to her fiancée's lips. She rubs Nicole’s tiny mole under her eye with her pointer finger. 

 

“You’re such a bad liar.” Nicole shakes her head. 

 

Under their mirage of blankets, Waverly snuggles closer to Nicole and tucks her head under Nicole’s chin.

 

“I  _ am  _ good at getting what I want. You’re so  _ tall. _ I like you, Nicole.”

 

“Good to know, Wave. It’s not like you’re the mother of my child or anything.”

 

Nicole wraps her arms around Waverly’s waist. 

 

“ _ Ooooh _ good one, that makes me happy when you call me that, baby,” a half-asleep Waverly says, capturing Nicole’s lips for another kiss. They're snuggled, and  _safe,_ and they fall asleep again. 

* * *

 

Ariel blinks her eyes open before she sees her cousin hovering over her. 

 

“Wake  _ up!  _ Wake  _ up!  _ It’s snowing!”  

 

“ _ Snow? _ ” Ariel looks confused. 

 

“The fluffy white stuff?  _ Anna  _ and  _ Elsa _ ? It’s cold, and the best part is... _ WE HAVE NO SCHOOL!”  _ Alice jumps on the bed and helps her cousin up. 

 

“No Kindergarten today?” 

 

Alice grins and helps Ariel steady herself against the foot of her bed.

 

“Y _ up. _ My mommy and daddy said so before they went to work.”

 

“Why they go to work? It’s snowing.” 

 

Alice shrugs and puts on a  _ serious  _ face like My Nonna does when she’s about to say something important. 

 

“We gotta get Buttercup outta the barn, it’s cold.”

 

Ariel’s face sinks as Alice pushes her walker over to her and helps her. 

 

“I bad at walking in snow.” 

 

_ Plus  _ thinks Ariel,  _ we’re not allowed to go outside by ourselves.  _

 

Alice shakes her head and smiles down at her best friend, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. 

 

“I’ll help you. So will Auntie Waverly and Nicole. We gotta get Buttercup inside before they wake up. Or else she could be out there by herself  _ for hours.” _

 

_ “ _ Can’t go in the snow, Al. I sink.” Ariel looks down at her arms, stretched out to the sides of the walker and her legs that only work sometimes.

 

She wants to go cuddle with CoCo and Wavy. They never remind her that she can’t do stuff other kids can do. They always show her another way to do it. 

 

“I can wake up CoCo and Wavy. They get Buttercup.” Ariel shifts her eyes at her cousin who’s giving her a  _ look. _

 

“No.  _ We  _ get Buttercup. My Nonna says  _ heroes  _ get things done, and we’re heroes.” 

 

Ariel’s tummy starts to hurt, but her cousin is determined so she follows her out of the bedroom they share.

 

Maybe you have to turn six like Alice before you become brave enough to be a hero.

 

They make it to the kitchen and Alice unlocks the door by reaching on her tiptoes. 

 

“You stay here and be the lookout. If you hear anyone coming, yell the secret word and I’ll come running back.”

 

Ariel looks down at her feet and whispers uncertainty. 

 

“What’s the secret word?”

 

Alice puts her hands on Ariel ’s shoulders and looks her straight in the eye. 

 

“ _ Olaf. _ ”

* * *

 

It’s been  _ a lot  _ of seconds since Alice left, more numbers than she can count up to, and Ariel knows that she doesn’t have the energy to make it upstairs and  _ tattle  _ on her cousin. She slumps to the floor and pulls her knees to her chest. 

 

_ Heroes don’t cry.  _

 

Alice broke a rule.  _ No going outside without an adult.  _

 

Alice isn’t bad. She’s just a lot braver than  _ me,  _ thinks Ariel. 

 

Ariel pops her finger into her mouth and starts to suck on it. Usually, she  _ loves  _ stay home days. She gets to play with Alice, and CoCo, and Wavy. 

 

Today is different because Alice broke a rule. 

 

Whenever she breaks the rules on accident, Ariel gets sent to a new family. She’s glad CoCo and Wavy don’t have a lot of rules because they  _ promised  _ she’d stay with them and be their little girl. 

 

She hopes they don’t change their mind. 

 

They just have important rules like  _ don’t go outside by yourself  _ or  _ don’t touch the stove  _ and  _ remember you can tell us anything you feel in your heart. _

* * *

 

Nicole rolls over in bed and picks up her phone from the nightstand. The screen shows a picture of herself and Waverly on either side of  Ariel, kissing her on the cheek. 

 

She opens her camera app and snaps a picture of her sleeping beauty of a  fiancée because Waverly is  _ adorable  _ when she sleeps. 

 

“Nicole Raleigh Haught, are you taking  _ pictures  _ of me sleeping?” Waverly throws a pillow at Nicole and snuggles underneath her plethora of blankets. 

 

_ Busted. _

 

She yawns and rests her head on Nicole’s chest. She swipes the phone from Nicole’s hands, takes a silly selfie of herself and Nicole and sends it to Wynonna. 

 

Nicole grins sheepishly. “You’re my perfect angel, Waverly.” 

 

“And you’re  _ Raleigh  _ Haught.” Nicole snorts and sits up. She leans against the headboard and Waverly rests her head in her lap. 

 

“ _ Speaking of,  _ this sounds  _ stupid, I swear  _ but….if God-willing Ariel’s adoption goes through….” Waverly picks at the skin on her thumb as hazel eyes meet deep chocolate ones. 

 

“ _ When  _ she’s ours on paper….” Nicole presses a kiss to Waverly’s forehead to ease her doubt. 

 

“Once it goes through, she’ll be an Earp-Haught. And….I was wondering…..if we could give her your middle name.” Waverly shrugs and a perplexed look comes across Nicole’s face. 

 

“ _ My  _ middle name? She already has red hair like me, I’d love it if she shared your name Waverl- _ oh.” _

 

The realization hits Nicole and a grin spreads across her face. 

 

“Waverly, you’re too much…  _ really? _ ”

 

Waverly sits up, and  presses their foreheads together. 

 

“Ariel Raleigh Earp-Haught. She will  _ really  _ be an Earp-Haught.”

 

“She’s going to hate us for that when she’s a teenager, you know.” Nicole nuzzles her nose into Waverly’s cheek. 

 

“We’ve got eight more years before that. Just think about it, Nicole.” 

 

They pull apart and the trance is broken when they hear the familiar  _ ping  _ of Nicole’s iPhone. 

 

Nicole reads the text out loud. “Wynonna told me to keep it in my pants… and they’ll be getting back from the doctor soon. Baby’s heartbeat is strong and appears healthy.” 

 

“Thank God.” Waverly breathes a sigh of relief. 

 

“It’s nine. We should probably get the girls up.” She brushes a lock of Nicole’s natural curl away from her eyes but makes no attempt of moving. 

 

“But I’m having so much fun with my best baby,” Nicole says softly. 

 

“ _ Mommy, Mama, Mommy!”  _

 

“Did she just?-” Nicole stares into Waverly’s eyes as they both start to realize their favorite little voice further away than from the tiny bedroom next door. 

 

“ _ Shit. _ ” Waverly grabs Nicole’s hand as they run downstairs in a hurry. The kitchen door is swung open, and a flurry of white is making its way inside. Ariel is nowhere to be seen. 

 

Nicole throws on her work boots and coat. “She has to be outside. How the hell did she make it all the way outside?!” 

 

“I have  _ no  _ clue but I’m kind of  _ proud.  _ Every day she gets a little bit better at walking.”

 

Waverly’s eyes dart around as she throws on her boots and coat, and dashes outside, Nicole right behind her. They breathe a sigh of relief when they see Ariel, huddled inside of her walker, knees to her chest. 

 

“I know I bad girl.”  

 

“No,” Nicole whispers into the little girl’s ear and wraps her arms around her to shield her from the cold. 

 

“Nope. Not at all.” Waverly presses a kiss to the crown of Ariel’s head. 

 

They cradle her in between them, providing her warmth. 

 

“Alice in the barn.” Ariel points into the flurries as Nicole wrinkles her nose and looks over at Waverly for confirmation.

 

“What happened baby?”Waverly casts a look at Nicole and nods.

 

“She wanna get Buttercup. I said no. Why’s the snow yellow, Wavy?” 

 

“It’s  _ okay  _ sweetie. It just looks like you had a little accident.” Waverly helps her little girl into a standing position, and Ariel bursts out into tears as she realizes her pajama bottoms are soaked. 

 

Big girls don’t  _ pee  _ their pants. She’s  _ five,  _ not  _ two.  _

 

“You’re not in trouble,it’s totally okay, Princess.” Nicole grabs onto Ariel’s hand. 

 

“Why don’t you get her changed and I’ll talk to Alice and meet you two inside.”

 

“Don’t tell Alice I peed,  _ Mama _ Wavy. It’s ‘barrasing.” Ariel hangs her head in shame and pouts. 

 

Waverly cups Ariel’s chin in her hands as her eyes glimmer at her future- daughter’s sentiment. 

 

“I would never. Neither will CoCo. We’ve got your back, sister.”

 

“ _ Sister _ ? I thought you were gonna be my moms.”

 

“It’s just an expression, Princess, ” Nicole says softly.

* * *

 

Ariel wraps her arms around Nicole’s neck as she carries her inside and up to the tiny bedroom. After Nicole changes her daughter’s clothes, she sits on the little purple bed next to her. 

 

“M’ sorry CoCo.” Ariel rests her head on Nicole’s shoulder. 

 

Nicole presses a kiss to Ariel’s cheek. 

 

“Don’t be sorry, baby.” Nicole’s breath hitches as she tries out the new word on her tongue. 

 

“As  _ Mama  _ said, it was an accident.”

 

Ariel looks up at Nicole and sighs. 

 

“I different, than the other kids, Coco _. _ ”

 

She shakes her head. 

 

“I can’t walk good, can’t run with Alice, and other kids don’t have an aide like me at school.” 

 

“Your differences don’t make you less special, Ariel. You are so important to your Wavy and me, you have no idea how long we waited to have a little girl like you.” 

 

“You wanted  _ me _ ?” 

 

Nicole smiles down at her baby. 

 

“From the minute they told us about you. We said  _ yes yes yes  _ so fast.” 

 

“Then what?” Ariel puts her head on Nicole’s lap. 

Waverly enters the bedroom and sits on the other side of Ariel. 

 

“ _ Then  _ you were our little girl, just like that.” She snaps her fingers and Ariel giggles. 

 

“How’s Al?” Nicole picks a loose thread from her sweater. 

 

“We talked. She’s good. I poured her some cereal and told her we’d be down in a few minutes. I think she’ll give it to Buttercup though.” Waverly wraps a blanket around Ariel.

 

“But what about before I was your little girl? Why was I not in your bellies?” 

 

“Because,” says Nicole. “Sometimes kids grow in the wrong bellies, but grow in the right hearts.” 

 

Ariel tilts her chin up at Nicole, and gives her an  _ are you kidding me  _ type of look. 

 

“Yeah. I’ll admit, that was kind of cheesy. Waverly, you got an answer?” 

 

Waverly places her hand on top of Nicole’s, making soothing motions up and down Ariel’s back.

 

“You grew  _ sooooooo  _ big in our hearts, we had to find you. But you found us first.”  

 

“What about before I was alive? What did you do then? How did you meet?” It’s a loaded question. 

 

“Well  _ I  _ was working at Shorty’s and one day, this  _ gorgeous  _ girl came walking in asking for a Cappuccino. It’s a type of coffee. I told her we were closed, but she came back.” Waverly grins over at Nicole. 

 

“And  _ I  _ was the new cop in town who walked into that bar. I had such a big crush on Waverly, it wasn’t funny. But eventually I won her over with my  _ great  _ hair and-”

 

“Like Teddy?” Ariel reaches up to touch Nicole’s hair as Waverly gushes, still in her  _ I Love Nicole  _ bubble. 

 

“ _ Teddy?”  _ Nicole has to bite her lip to keep from grinning. 

 

“Your modest personality is what did it for sure. Your CoCo is a keeper, Ariel. She’s kind, and smart, and makes our lives a whole lot better, and  _ Teddy? _ ” 

 

Ariel nods. 

 

“Mhm. Teddy reads to me in the story corner and helps me put the stars on my clipboard whenever Mrs. Lovejoy says I do good. He has nice hair. He let me touch it once.” 

 

Waverly’s hands clasp over her mouth. 

 

“We know him! Kid kind of looks like Chuckie from  _ Rugrats.  _ Red hair, glasses...he came to Alice’s party.” 

 

“He reads  _ Harry Potter  _ to me. He wants to be a wizard when he grows up.” Ariel smiles up at Waverly. 

 

“Solid career choice, I can’t believe he’s decided that at  _ five.”  _

 

Ariel shakes her head and sighs. 

 

“He’s already six. Too old for me.” 

 

Nicole can’t contain her grin as she leans in to whisper to Waverly.

 

“Our baby has a thing for redheads, huh...just like her Mama.” 

 

Waverly blushes. 

 

“Teddy sounds like a sweetheart, Ari.” 

 

Ariel nods then shrugs. 

 

“I too little for a boyfriend. But he nice.” 

 

Nicole pulls Ariel onto her lap and starts to tickle the little girl. 

 

“Can you  _ promise  _ us not to date anyone until you’re  _ much, much,  _ older?” 

 

Ariel wraps her arms around Nicole’s neck. 

 

“Boys are  _ gross,  _ Mommy.”

 

“My kind of girl.” Nicole offers Ariel a high-five which she confusedly accepts. 

 

“You called me Mommy, Ariel. Thank you for doing that.” 

 

Ariel shrugs and pops her thumb into her mouth as she thinks out loud.

 

“I like saying Mommy Co and Mama Wavy better, or just CoCo and Wavy” 

 

Waverly presses a kiss to Ariel’s forehead. 

 

“You can call us whatever you want.”

 

“Even  _ poop face? _ ” Ariel looks up at Waverly and giggles.

 

“Did Alice teach you that word?” 

 

Ariel nods solemnly.

 

“Alice said Auntie Nonna said you can say it to a person who you’re mad at. But I’d never be mad at you or CoCo so I wouldn’t say it.”

 

“You came into our lives, and we couldn’t be happier. You made us your mamas.” Waverly strokes Ariel’s red curls with her fingers. “We know you get scared sometimes, sweetie. And I’m glad you called out for us this morning.” 

 

“I scared in school last week and I sick and then I  _ peed  _ today. I not a good little girl.” 

 

Waverly shakes her head. 

 

“Being scared is  _ normal,  _ angel.  _ Mommy _ CoCo and I want to make sure that you’re happy as much as possible, okay? But it’s fine to be scared at times. Just remember-”

 

“I tell you anything?” Ariel parrots the phrase she’s heard at least a hundred times since she’s come to the Homestead. 

 

Waverly nods. 

 

Nicole chuckles and pokes Waverly in the ribs. 

 

“You said  _ angel.” _ Waverly rolls her eyes and drops a kiss on Nicole’s cheek.

 

"That's totally going to be a conversation for when she's eight or nine. Not five." 

 

“I’m hungry, Wavy.” 

 

“Okay sweetie. Alice is downstairs having breakfast, let’s get you some cereal.” 

 

“You mad at Alice for going outside?”

 

Waverly shakes her head. 

 

“It’s okay to make mistakes, baby. It sounds like Auntie Nonna and Uncle Doc just got home from the _ docto- or-  _ work.”

 

“The doctor? Is Auntie No No sick?” 

 

A look of concern washes over Ariel’s face.

 

“She’s perfectly fine, Princess. Let’s go eat! I’m starving!” Nicole hoists Ariel on her back and carries her downstairs. 

 

“C’mon, cutie.” Waverly grabs Ariel's Peppa Pig from the floor, and tucks her under the little girl's arm. 

* * *

 

They’re eating breakfast downstairs (alongside Buttercup who is drinking milk happily from her bowl) when Wynonna pulls Waverly into the living room. 

 

“What did my kid  _ do _ ?” Wynonna folds her arms over her chest.

 

Waverly giggles and puts her hands on her hips.

 

“I think they tried to pull off an Earp heist that would give us a run for  _ our  _ money, and Alice was the brains behind the operation.” 

 

Wynonna puts her hands over her face, excuses herself, and pulls Doc by the arm into the living room. 

 

“ _ You  _ need to tell  _ your _ daughter not to run out of the house again. If I try to, I’ll cry Doc. Stupid hormones. I can’t see the sad look on her face.” 

 

“I do not want to see her upset either, Wynonna. She does have the Earp spirit.” Doc chuckles as puts his arm around Wynonna’s waist.

 

"Don't laugh. The Earp spirit is great. It's wonderful. It brought  _Waverly_ into my life and-oh  _shit!_ " She wipes a stray tear from her cheek. 

 

Waverly rolls her eyes. “Fine. We’ll all tell her together. You two  _ are  _ softies.  But...spill! How is my niece or nephew?” 

 

“I am  _ not  _ a softie, baby girl.” Wynonna pulls out her phone and shows Waverly the sonogram on the screen. 

 

“ _ We…”  _ Wynonna motions to herself and Doc as she zooms in on the picture “ _ think  _ it’s a boy.” 

 

“That’s  _ totally  _ a-” 

 

“Hey,” Nicole pops her head into the room. “Everything okay?” 

* * *

 

A few minutes later, they’re all sitting at the table, Wynonna helping herself to the girls' Lucky Charms. 

 

“So, girls… Will we run outside without telling an adult again?” Doc takes a sip of milk. 

 

“You have a milk moustache.How are they supposed to take you seriously with a milk moustache?” Wynonna asks softly. 

 

“No, Daddy. We won’t go outside without telling you or My Nonna or Auntie Nicole or Auntie Waverly” Alice takes a bite of her cereal as she apologizes.

 

“I just wanted to be brave like  _ My Nonna   _ and be a hero. She gets to run around and rescue people.” 

 

Wynonna has to wipe her eyes. 

 

“You think  _ I’m  _ a hero? Man, Al, you know how to make me feel good.” Alice hops down from her seat and runs over to hug her Mama. 

 

“You’re my favorite superhero. You’re cooler than Wonder Woman. Don’t tell her I said that.” 

 

Wynonna gives her daughter a wink and pulls her on her lap.

 

“I’d  _ never. _ ” 

 

Alice lays her head on her Mama’s chest. 

 

“You’re the coolest, Mommy.” 

 

Ariel giggles. 

 

“No.I got the coolest  _ mommies _ .” 

 

_ “Oooooh  _ Mini Haught’s got sass!” Wynonna grins at her niece as Ariel’s cheeks turn red. 

 

Nicole lifts Ariel onto her lap and Ariel sticks out her tongue. 

 

“I think we have the best little  _ girls _ in the world. We couldn’t be luckier.” 

* * *

 

They spend the rest of the day building snowmen, sledding, and making hot cocoa. 

They’ve got nothing to do, and nowhere to be, but spending time with their little girl who means the world to them is their new favorite activity. 

 

Ariel goes to sleep with a smile on her face. 

 

Accidents happen, and that’s okay.

 

She doesn’t get sent to a new family that day, (and she never will again).

* * *

 

In the morning, Alice wakes Ariel up and dangles a funny looking picture in front of her face. It’s black on the outside, but has a white blob in the middle. 

 

“I found this on my bed. It says EARP, WYNONNA, 14 WEEKS. Do you know what that means?” 

 

Ariel gulps because she knows  _ exactly  _ what it is. She remembers when Mom brought one of those pictures home and told her she was going to have a new baby brother. 

 

“Alice, I think your Mommy is gonna have a baby.”

 

Alice's lip trembles. 

 

"Uh-uh. I'm her baby." 

 

Ariel’s vision goes blurry. If there’s a new baby in the house, there might not be enough room for her. 

  
  


_ Stay, and I'll be loving you for quite some time _ __  
_ No one else is going to love me, when I get mad, mad mad _ _  
_ __ So I think that it's best if we both stay .


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Nicole wishes she could take away her baby’s fears and make the world a little bit more open-minded about how fantastic people like her kid are. 
> 
> Or, 
> 
> Alice Earp finds out that she's going to be a big sister, while Ariel discovers why Waverly and Nicole wanted to foster her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Snow Day! 
> 
> Thank you for all the love of this story. Your comments and messages and tweets make my day. 
> 
> As always, if you have any prompts for this series, please let me know by sending me a tweet or a tumble! 
> 
> https://twitter.com/themilIsisters
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/elandhop

**Snow Day**

**Chapter 2/2**

_ “Alice, I think your Mommy is gonna have a baby.”  _

 

Alice looks at her cousin with disbelief as her eyes adjust to the dark. Outside their bedroom window, snow continues to fall. 

 

“A baby? I thought she just had too many donuts at my birthday party.” Alice looks down at her Peppa Pig nightgown, and her legs feel wobbly. 

 

Ariel pokes the sonogram with her pointer finger. “My mo- _ she _ had a picture like that too before my brother.” 

 

Alice shakes her head and frowns as she puts the picture close to her face.

 

“How is  _ that splotch  _ a baby? I’m the only baby my mommy needs.” She crosses her arms over her chest. Ariel sits up in her bed, rubs her eyes and pulls Alice in for a hug. She feels super snuggly in her favorite Rapunzel onesie. 

 

_ She can’t say what she’s thinking about the baby because if she says it out loud it might come true.  _

 

Ariel struggles to answer. 

 

“It grows and grows until it’s a  _ real  _ baby and it comes out of your Mommy’s-” 

 

_ Shit.  _

 

_ The girls know.  _

 

Waverly and Nicole stand outside the bedroom in their pajamas and robes. They come up with a plan of attack. 

 

“ _ Hey.”  _ Waverly pops her head into the girls’ bedroom. “Is everything okay? It’s super early and CoCo and I heard you two-”

 

Alice pulls her knees to her chest, Peppa nightgown covering her legs.  Aunt Waverly  _ always  _ knows when something is wrong. 

 

Ariel feels her stomach twist and flip because she knows that Mama Wavy  _ knows  _ what they know. Waverly is the smartest person in the whole wide world. 

 

Waverly sits in between her niece and foster daughter. 

 

“Can you tell me what you’re sad about? We can start from there.” 

 

“Nope. I cannot. You’ll tell Mommy and Daddy.” Alice’s lip starts to tremble as Waverly sighs. 

 

“Hey! Earps aren’t snitches.” Nicole takes this as her cue to enter the room and sits at Ariel’s side.

 

Waverly grins. “We’re a little snitchy, but we’re loyal.” 

 

“You’re such a _ Hufflepuff,  _ Waverly.” She presses a kiss to Ariel’s temple, and the little girl leans into her touch. Nicole lifts Ariel’s legs over her lap, and cradles her body in the crook of her arm. 

 

Waverly scoffs.“Like you’re _ no _ t, Haught.” 

 

“I’m pure Gryffindor. Strong, brave, determined…” She tickles Ariel a bit, but the girl doesn’t crack a smile. 

 

“What’s Harry Potter got to do with sadness?” Alice pulls her knees to her chest and buries her head. 

 

“What she sad about is a  _ secret.”  _ Ariel touches Nicole’s face, and Nicole can see the misery in those big, blue, eyes she loves so much.

 

“I have a secret too, you know. Maybe we can share secrets.” Waverly takes Ariel’s hand in her own and squeezes it. 

 

It’s kind of a  _ you can tell me anything  _ signal or helps when she’s scared out of her mind.

 

“ _ You  _ have a secret too?” Ariel squeezes back as Waverly nods. 

 

“I hope  _ your  _ secret isn’t the same as the one  _ we  _ know about, Aunt Waverly.” Alice huffs and throws a pillow over her head. 

 

“Being an Earp is  _ hard,  _ man.” Wynonna chuckles as she enters the room and scoops her daughter into her arms. They sit on the floor together, at the foot of the bed, side by side. 

 

“I heard a small rumor from a certain  _ goat  _ that there’s a family meeting going on at…. _ five fifteen in the morning.  _ Your father won’t be in attendance. He’s sleeping. On the floor. I pushed him off the bed last night because he tried to  _ snuggle  _ with me.”

 

Nicole raises an eyebrow. “You  _ would  _ do that.”

 

Wynonna presses a kiss to the top of her daughter’s head. “I only snuggle with my baby-baby- girl.”

 

“You’re silly, My Nonna. Buttercup can’t talk.”

 

Wynonna throws her hands up in defense. 

 

“So, Little Lady. What’s got your panties in a twist?”

 

Alice answers her mother’s question with another one. 

 

“Did you freeze Daddy in the air with your Sonic like the Doctor?” 

 

Wynonna cocks her head to the side. 

 

“I am  _ nowhere  _ near as cool as Doctor Who, Al.”

 

Alice traces her mother’s dimple with her finger as a grin breaks out across her tiny face. 

 

“You’re better.”

 

Ariel’s eyes blink open and shut as she slumps against Waverly. She sees Alice’s sticky stars on the ceiling and the pink blob that must be her walker in the far corner of the room, 

 

“Tell us the secret, Wavy.” Ariel touches one of her red, unruly, curls as she struggles to stay awake.

 

“Do you remember how I told you that the librarian at your school needed a little help?” 

 

Ariel and Alice nod as Waverly continues. 

 

“I told you how she needed someone to help read stories to the children and put the books away? Well…. _ because  _ of my years of research and  _ superb _ organizational skills….I’m going to be the new library assistant whenever your class goes to the Library.”

 

Ariel loves stories more than anything in the world. Stories with pictures in them have happy endings. Ariel gets her feet, or Belle gets her library, or Rapunzel gets to live life before happily ever after with Flynn Ryder. 

 

More than anything, Ariel  _ loves  _ it when Nicole and Waverly read to her. They’ve read  _ Matilda  _ and  _ The Penderwicks  _ and  _ The Book With No Pictures  _ thousands of times. They never get tired of reading to her. Waverly’s the best reader in the whole, wide world. She lets Ariel climb onto her lap and points as the pictures as her voice carries Ariel away to Ms. Honey’s classroom or Hogwarts. 

 

Best of all, Waverly does the voices for each and every character. Sometimes they’re scary, and sometimes they’re silly, but each character is different. 

 

One time, Nicole tried to do the voices and got  _ booed  _ quite lovingly from her favorite five-year-old in the world. 

 

So Nicole reads about the people and places, and Waverly does the voices, and that’s that. 

 

There aren’t any stories about kids like her with pink, sparkly, walkers and glasses in the library though. 

 

She pictures a storybook about her life in her head. On the last page, she’s up high on Nicole’s shoulders, Waverly next to them, holding her hand. 

 

She knows her story will be more than just okay if Waverly and Nicole have anything to do with it.

 

Ariel nearly throws herself into her Mama’s arms. 

 

“My Wavy at school with me?”

 

“I won’t be there  _ every  _ day, but you know I’ll be thinking of you all day long. You’re right here in our hearts when we can’t see you, Ariel.” Waverly places a palm on her chest, and Ariel covers it with her own.

 

Nicole smooths Ariel’s wild, red, Merida-esqe mane down around her ears.

 

“Do you think you can keep us in your heart when you can’t see us?”

 

Ariel nods and Nicole breathes a sigh of relief. 

 

It’s usually the same conversation, but they’re progressing, that’s for sure. 

 

She says more to them now. 

 

She knows they care about her. 

 

Even though she’s called them  _ Mama  _ and  _ Mommy  _ she’s anxious, and Nicole  _ knows  _ it’s new and scary. 

 

She’s told them she loves them. 

 

But, she  _ can’t  _ grasp they aren’t going to leave her. 

 

It’s frustrating and hard, and her past is not pretty.

 

Nicole wishes she could take away her baby’s fears and make the world a little bit more open-minded about how fantastic people like her  _ kid  _ are. 

 

But it’s pretty  _ good  _ during times like these when Ariel shows affection and realizes she’s as much a part of the family and is going to be as much of an Earp as Alice is. 

 

In typical fashion, Wynonna ruins the moment by belching. 

 

“ _ Shit. Sorry.  _ Must have been the  _ tac-Ohhhh.. _ Al, why are you looking at me funny?”

 

Alice shrugs and whispers. 

 

“The baby made you belch. It’s probably kicking your insides, screaming to come out  _  right now _ .”

 

“How do you know about the- oh  _ did I? really….shit.  _ I must have used the sonogram as a bookmark in our story last night, didn’t I?”

 

Alice pouts and looks her mother in the eyes.

 

“ _ Ariel  _ told me.”

 

Wynonna places her hands over her eyes and looks at her baby girl and Nicole for help.

 

Even  _ future  _ Earps are snitches. 

 

Nicole speaks first. “You’re right, Ariel. That  _ is  _ a picture of a baby.”

 

Ariel’s eyes fill up with tears as her cousin speaks for her.

 

“Ariel and I are the littlest Earps. We don’t  _ want  _ a baby.” 

 

They’ve got two terrified little ones, and absolutely no clue what to do or say. 

 

Ariel presses her face into Waverly’s neck. 

 

“You gonna send me back. You said I stay, but how I stay when there not room?”

 

Waverly cradles Ariel in her arms, wiping the tears away with the pads of her thumbs. 

 

“There is  _ plenty  _ of room for you Ariel. You know, before Alice came home, we got the whole second floor added to the house. We still have an attic too.  _ And  _ the barn.”

 

“I ‘afta live in the barn?” Ariel’s chin wobbles as Waverly peppers kisses onto the girl’s freckled cheek. 

 

Nicole giggles and purses her lips. “No one is moving anywhere, Princess. You’re stuck with us forever. Even if Auntie Wynonna makes us move into the stinky barn when the baby comes.”

 

Wynonna scoffs at Nicole’s proposition. “I would  _ never. _ There’s always a place for anyone who needs it here.” 

 

Alice sighs with exasperation. “Where’s this  _ baby  _ going to sleep?”

 

Wynonna pulls her daughter close to her chest but doesn’t answer Alice’s question. She nuzzles her face in her daughter’s hair which so closely resembles her own. 

 

“Alice, I know you’re afraid things will be different right, that me and Daddy will have less time for you. I didn’t want you to find out like this but I’m  _ stupid  _ and made a mistake and -” 

 

“Don’t call yourself stupid, Wynonna,” Waverly says softly. 

 

“Becoming a big sister was the best thing that  _ ever  _ happened to me, Alice. I got your Aunt Waverly out of the deal.” Wynonna smirks up at her sister and presses a kiss to her daughter’s forehead. 

 

Alice yawns and looks up at her mother. “I’m  _ already  _ kind of like a big sister to Ariel.”

 

Nicole rubs Ariel’s back as the tiny girl struggles to stay awake in her Mama’s arms.

 

“Do you remember the day before Ariel came home? You told me and Aunt Waverly, ‘I’m going to protect her.’ You said it with the  _ biggest  _ most proud smile on your face, and we  _ still  _ can’t believe how good of a cousin you are to her.” 

 

Alice nods and closes her eyes at the memory as her Aunt Waverly starts to speak.

 

“You gave her that beautiful pink bear with the polka dots.” 

 

Alice shrugs nonchalantly and bites her lip. “I gave her the pink bear to show that we’re going to be  _ Beary Best Friends  _ forever, right Ariel? _ ” _

 

Too tired to speak, Ariel closes her hand into a fist and rocks it up and down. 

 

_ Yes. Yes. Yes.  _

 

Waverly smiles at her niece. 

 

“ _ Maybe  _ you can give your little brother or sister a bear too, Alice. I think he or she would love that as much as Ariel did.” 

 

Alice rolls her eyes. 

 

“That bear was for  _ Ariel  _ because she’s  _ a kid.  _ A baby can’t play with a bear.”

 

“ _ Oh?”  _ Wynonna challenges her daughter. “Earps can do anything they set their minds to.” 

 

Nicole rocks Ariel back and forth as the little girl falls asleep in her arms. “Babies are  _ super  _ cute, Alice. You’re going to love having one around.” 

 

Alice frowns. 

 

“But...you must not like them, because you  said you wanted to adopt  _ Winnie _ and got Ariel instead.” 

 

Nicole’s stomach flips and Waverly thinks she’s going to pass out as Ariel’s eyes fly open and her gaze darts toward Nicole.  

 

“Who’s  _ Winnie,  _ CoCo?” 

 

The little girl’s eyes narrow and her teeth press against her lower lip as she tries to decipher who this missing family member could be. 

 

“ _ Winnie  _ was a baby who we were supposed to foster before you came into our lives.” 

 

Ariel tilts her head. 

 

“Why you say was? Where she go?” 

 

Waverly shakes her head slowly. 

 

“Winnie’s probably very happy right now, sweetheart.” She rests her chin atop Ariel’s head and rocks her daughter back and forth. 

 

Nicole rubs her eyes. “Her mom decided that she wanted to keep her. But...you found us.” She smiles at Ariel, who gives her a droopy thumbs up.

 

“You are the happiest surprise we could have asked for, sweet pea,” Waverly says, as her daughter nods at her sentiment. 

 

“Yeah!” Alice says. “If Winnie was here, we wouldn’t have you. If  _ you  _ weren’t here, I wouldn’t have a best friend.” 

 

Wynonna glances down at her daughter. They’ve both got brown hair, green eyes, dimples, and fire in their eyes. It surprises her how much her kid is like her, stubbornness and all. 

 

“The baby is kind of a surprise too, Al. I know you’re scared...and...I am  _ too. _ You lived with Gus until you were two. I didn’t exactly get the newborn bundle of joy stage with you.” 

 

Earps don’t lie. Earps are honest and put it all out on the table. 

 

Alice glances into the pair of eyes that mirror her own. They look scared, and shocked like her Mama is about to cry. 

 

“Don’t be scared, My Nonna. We all protect my baby. Just like we protect Ariel. Together”

 

Wynonna’s lip trembles as she wraps her arms around her daughter and squeezes her tightly. 

 

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way, baby-baby girl. The baby will be  _ super  _ lucky to have you as his or her big sister.” 

 

Alice shrugs. “I kinda figured something was up. You looked  _ constipated  _ or something.” 

 

Wynonna chuckles and runs her fingers through Alice’s tangled brown hair. 

 

“Good to know, kiddo. Daddy thinks the baby is a boy. What do you think?” 

 

The corners of Alice’s mouth go up. 

 

“ _ Daddy  _ knows?” 

 

“Well...he is kind of the person who got me into this predica-oh god. You’re five. You think babies come from the Stork, which they  _ totally do,  _ Alice. Yes. Daddy knows.” 

 

Alice looks at her mother as if she’s crazy “Where  _ is  _ Daddy?”  

As if on cue, Doc stumbles into the tiny bedroom rubbing his eyes and Wynonna throws a pillow at him. 

 

“Wy _ nonna?  _ Why was I on the floor?” He catches the pillow and Wynonna rolls her eyes.

 

“You whispered  _ sweet nothings  _ in my ear and took over  _ my  _ side of the bed. That’s not cool, Baby Daddy.” 

 

Doc raises an eyebrow and Alice hops off of her mother’s lap. 

 

“Cat’s outta the bag, Daddy.” Doc picks his girl up off the ground and she rests her head on his shoulder. 

 

“Dainty and delicate as always, Alice.” Doc kisses Alice’s cheek and she wraps her arms around his neck. 

 

Wynonna stands up and lifts her shirt up a bit. 

 

“Want to say hi to whoever’s inside of me, Al?” 

 

Doc smirks and whispers into Wynonna’s ear.  

 

“I believe that’d be me, Ms. Earp.” 

 

Wynonna slaps his ass. 

 

“Get  _ out.  _ We’re having a  _ girls  _ sleepover. I’ve declared it. School’s probably canceled again, anyway.” 

 

Doc puts Alice back on the ground and she walks back over to her mother, inquisitively looking at her stomach that pokes out just a bit. 

 

Alice puts her tiny hands on the skin and Wynonna covers them with her own. 

 

“You’re always going to be my first baby, Al. You’re going to be this little one’s protector too. I’m so proud of you. I can’t believe you’re  _ my  _ kid. You’re way too cool for that to be true.” 

 

Alice moves her palms along her mother’s stomach. 

 

“I  _ am  _ pretty cool.  _ So _ ...can we have snacks at this sleepover?” 

 

“Yup,” Wynonna says, as she folds her arms over her chest. “You’re my kid, no doubt about it.” 

* * *

 

Three hours later, Waverly wakes up, her body intertwined with Nicole’s. They’re on the floor of Ariel and Alice’s room, snuggled up in a fleece blanket. 

 

“Hi.” Nicole nuzzles her nose into Waverly’s cheek and presses a swift kiss to her closed eyelids. 

 

Waverly wraps an arm around Nicole’s waist and pulls her closer. 

 

“Bonus blanket.” 

 

“Hmmm.” Nicole draws patterns on Waverly’s cheek with her fingernails. “Is that all I’m good for?” 

 

“No.” Waverly licks her lips and taps Nicole’s nose with her pointer finger. “You’re my baby. You  _ are  _ a Gryffindor, strong, and  _ sexy  _ and brave.” 

 

Nicole smiles as she captures Waverly’s lips with her own. “We’re so lucky to have you.”

 

Waverly shakes her head and positions her head under Nicole’s chin. 

 

Nicole gives her comfort. Nicole gives  _ Ariel  _ comfort, which is more than Waverly can ever thank her for. 

 

“I think Ariel and I are lucky to have  _ you,  _ my sweetie pie.” 

 

“Well,” says Nicole, flicking bits of Waverly’s hair behind her ears. “Do you ever think of how lucky we are to have  _ her _ ? We could have ended up with any kid in the world, but we got our girl.” 

 

Waverly nods and takes strands of Nicole’s red hair in her fingers. 

 

“I was so scared, Nicole. But….we’re  _ doing it.  _ We’re really doing it. We’re  _ parents.”  _

Nicole licks her lips and tilts her head at Waverly.

 

“Technically, my love, I don’t think we’re doing  _ it  _ right now, but that can be arranged if you’d like. Although we’d have to move into our bedroom. I don’t want to scar our  _ daughter. _ ”

 

Waverly’s face flushes red as she tries not to giggle. 

 

“You are too much, Nicole.” She sighs and presses a chaste kiss to her neck. “The things we do for our little girl. Sleep on the floor.” 

 

It isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. 

 

A couple of minutes later Ariel wakes up and they add her to their little cuddle-fest on the floor. Wrapped in three blankets, the tiny redhead looks content to snuggle with her Mamas for as long as they allow her to. 

 

“Why can’t I walk like Alice?” She asks softly. “I wanna walk good.” Nicole puts a hand on Ariel’s back as Waverly cups the little girl’s chin in her palms. 

 

“You’re working on it, baby. You’re working on walking well. Every day your CoCo and I are prouder of you than the day before.” 

 

“I broken, Wavy.” 

 

“Not broken. You’re working things out your own way. You  _ don’t  _ have to be like every other kid, Ariel.” Waverly pulls Ariel’s red curls away from her face. 

 

“ _ No one  _ could be as special to us as you are, Miss Ariel. We are so proud of you and love you more and more each day, our hearts might burst,” Nicole says. 

 

Waverly points to her heart. “We are  _ thrilled  _ you came into our lives, Ariel.” 

 

Ariel scrunches up her face. “You didn’t pick me. You picked Winnie and got stuck with me.”

 

“Any mommy or mama would be lucky to get  _ stuck _ with you, Miss Ariel.” Nicole intertwines her hand with Ariel’s. “Plus,” she says with a grin on her face, _ “you _ got stuck with us.”

 

Ariel’s eyes glisten as she touches Waverly’s cheek with her palm. 

 

“I wanna stay stuck with you forever.” 

 

They can’t promise it. But they sure as hell can try. 

 

The rest of the day is spent making Hot Cocoa, building snowmen, and watching TV. 

 

“Hot  _ CoCo _ ?” Ariel has a puzzled look on her face when Wynonna offers her the steaming, chocolate, drink. “I don’t want to  _ drink _ CoCo.” 

* * *

 

Later that night, Waverly says that she, Nicole, and Ariel won the snowman building contest thanks to the addition of Nicole’s Stetson and Purgatory Sheriff’s Badge. 

 

The girls are enamored by the new  _ Doctor Who  _ and create their own Sonic Screwdrivers out of old toilet paper rolls. As the credits roll and her family is asleep around her, Nicole makes a silent promise to the teensy girl with the red braids slumped against her chest. 

 

They’re doing everything in their power to keep her forever, and that process starts with the first home visit from the Foster Agency next week. 

  
Wynonna had  _ better  _ behave.


End file.
